Please find our archived blog posts below:
February 3, 2023: CASEL defines responsible decision-making as “the ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on ethical standards, safety concerns, and social norms.” Responsible decision-making involves learning how to evaluate a problem, analyze the options, and consider the potential consequences of each of those options for themselves and others. In order to use these skills, students must draw upon other SEL skills, including self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and relationship skills.
January 18, 2023: CASEL defines relationship skills as "The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups." These include the ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively, and seek and offer help when needed.
November 18: With this month's focus on social awareness, I wanted to provide some information about the differences between conflict, a mean moment, and bullying. I've had multiple students come to me saying that they are bullied, and after gathering more information, the circumstances instead show that there is a mean moment or conflict happening instead of bullying; it's important for students to understand the difference, since the recommended interventions are very different.
November 3, 2022: Over the last two years, we have seen an increased need to coach students on how to practice social awareness. CASEL defines social awareness as "the abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, & contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports."
October 17, 2022: After students have an understanding of self-awareness and the relationship between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, they can better understand how to practice self-management. Self-management, or self-control, is the ability to regulate (have control over) your thoughts/emotions/behavior and work towards goals. Although self-control sounds simple, it involves a variety of processes: impulse control, stress management, self-discipline, organizational skills, and self-motivation.
September 2, 2022: This year, I'm highlighting a different SEL core competency each month, and in September we're highlighting Self-Awareness. This core competency serves as a foundation for all other core competencies: self-awareness is the ability to identify your emotions, and recognize your strengths and weaknesses.
April 2, 2022: In this post, we’ll identify strategies to help your student challenge their anxious thoughts.
February 5, 2022: In this post, we review ways to help your student identify their anxious thoughts.
November 18, 2021: In this post, you will find information on how to help your student manage the physical sensation of anxiety through progress muscle relaxation and managing sugar/caffeine intake.
September 28, 2021: In Part 1 of this blog series on giftedness and anxiety, we explore the definition of anxiety as well as the way it manifests between the interrelation of thoughts, emotions/body sensations, and behavior.
How helping your child identify, accept, and process their emotions can make a big difference!
Allow them to chose if they want to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Self-esteem matters, so we work to build it up!